The present invention relates to memory requirements for mobile hosts and in particular, though not necessarily, to the memory requirements of mobile telephones and smart phones.
The recent growth in the use of mobile telephones has resulted in a large number of proposals being made as to how the role of such telephones can be extended beyond that of merely making and receiving telephone calls. Indeed, a number of these proposals have already been implementedxe2x80x94the ability to send and receive text messages and faxes and to browse the WWW are but two examples.
Definite steps are also being made in the use of mobile electronic terminals (with a particular emphasis on mobile telephones) to allow users to interactively control local systems such as parking meters and vending machines. For example, a number of major companies are currently involved in the development of a standardised interface for this application, under a project termed xe2x80x9cBluetoothxe2x80x9d.
What most of these proposals have in common is the requirement for the transfer of relatively large amounts of electronic data between the mobile terminals and the interacting systems (be that a local system or a telephone network). Much of this data must be stored at the mobile terminal even if only as a temporary measure. In addition, advanced applications running at a mobile terminal will themselves generate a large amount of data which must be stored at the mobile terminal. This need to store data at a mobile terminal will inevitably place considerable demands on the memory available at the mobile terminal which is always going to be limited due to both size and cost constraints.
In the event that data requiring storage at a mobile terminal exceeds the available memory space, one or more applications running at the terminal are likely to crash, or at least the running of the application(s) will be suspended. In a worst case scenario, valuable data may be lost. This is particularly serious where an electronic commerce application is running at the mobile terminal and where financial transaction data may be lost.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome or at least mitigate the disadvantage noted above. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to prevent or reduce the risk of memory overload at a mobile terminal when the terminal is interacting electronically with other equipment or systems.
These and other objects are achieved, at least in part, by enabling a mobile terminal to upload electronic data to the equipment or system with which it is interacting in the event that a risk of memory overload is recognised. The uploaded data can then be retrieved by the mobile terminal when this risk is reduced or eliminated.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of storing electronic data in a system having a mobile terminal and a remote system, the mobile terminal and the remote system interacting with each other to exchange electronic data, the method comprising:
transmitting from the remote system to the mobile terminal a notification including an identification of the amount of data to be downloaded;
determining at the mobile terminal when a risk of exceeding a data storage capacity of the mobile terminal exists;
uploading electronic data from the mobile terminal to the remote system in the event that such a determination is made, and storing the uploaded data at the remote system; and
subsequently downloading the previously uploaded data from the remote system to the mobile terminal in the event that the uploaded data is required by the mobile terminal or a determination is made that the risk of exceeding the data storage capacity of the mobile terminal no longer exists.
Embodiments of the present invention assist in preventing the overloading of memory at a mobile station and therefore reduce the risk of applications crashing and/or data being lost at the mobile terminal.
Preferably, said exchange of data between the mobile terminal and remote system is carried out at least in part via a wireless interface. Most preferably, the wireless interface is a radio interface although other interfaces, such as infra-red or ultrasonic, may be used.
In certain embodiments of the invention, said remote system is a local system, for example a parking meter or a vending or sales machine, and the local system interacts with the mobile terminal using a local radio air interface protocol RI1. In other embodiments however, the remote system may be a radio network or a system coupled to the radio network.
Preferably, the mobile terminal is or comprises a mobile telephone arranged to communicate with a mobile telephone network. Said exchange of electronic data, including said uploading and downloading of data, may occur via a link between the terminal and the network or may occur via a second distinct wireless interface.
The electronic data uploaded from the mobile terminal to the remote system may include application software (i.e. executable code), state information, and user data. Preferably, the uploaded data is converted into a serial format for transmission to the remote system.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for storing electronic data in a system having a mobile terminal and a remote system, the mobile terminal and the remote system interacting with each other to exchange electronic data, the apparatus comprising:
transmitting means at the remote system for transmitting to the mobile terminal a notification including an identification of the amount of data to be downloaded
processing means at the mobile terminal for determining when a risk of exceeding a data storage capacity of the mobile terminal exists;
first data transfer means for uploading electronic data from the mobile terminal to the remote system in the event that such a determination is made;
memory means at the remote system for storing the uploaded data at the remote system; and
second data transfer means for subsequently downloading the previously uploaded data from the remote system to the mobile terminal in the event that the uploaded data is required by the mobile terminal or a determination is made that the risk of exceeding the data storage capacity of the mobile terminal no longer exists.
According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a mobile terminal arranged in use to interact with a remote system by way of the exchange of electronic data, the terminal comprising:
receiving means for receiving a notification including an identification of the amount of data to be downloaded
processing means for determining when a risk of exceeding a data storage capacity of the mobile terminal exists;
data transmission means for uploading electronic data from the mobile terminal to the remote system in the event that such a determination is made; and
data reception means for subsequently downloading the previously uploaded data from the remote system to the mobile terminal in the event that the uploaded data is required by the mobile terminal or a determination is made that the risk of exceeding the data storage capacity of the mobile terminal no longer exist.